


Dream A Little Dream Of Me

by LilAlbatross



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-11
Updated: 2013-06-11
Packaged: 2017-12-14 14:37:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/837993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilAlbatross/pseuds/LilAlbatross
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oneshot- Only in dreams can he admit how important she's become to him. Only in dreams will she allow him to give her what she's denied herself all along.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dream A Little Dream Of Me

Killian Jones is a man who avoids his dreams.

Simply put as to why, the last three hundred years worth has only left him with a heart heavy of hatred and despair.

Milah's life slipping away in his arms, like sand through his fingers.

The Dark One taking his hand with a smile as cruel as it is victorious.

Baelfire detesting him and the memory of his mother.

And these we're to only name a few of the frequent scenarios that plague his subconscious. Therefore Killian learned to shield himself from the dangers that came with slumber. A technique which took him a couple of decades to master. Through different means of knowledge in books that added up to a matter of will and the correct amount of alcohol. He finds a balance. And dreams of nothing he can remember by morning.

_Until tonight._

It's been centuries since he's had one, that he's lost to it's reality before actually realizing that this is in fact a dream.

Because how else can you explain Emma Swan in his cabin?

He's stunned at the sight of her, barely a foot through the threshold in his quarters. Her back is to him. Long locks of gold trailing down her back in gentle waves. He recalls how soft it felt between his fingers, in that brief time they spent atop the beanstalk. Which felt like a lifetime ago considering all that has taken place since.

Shutting the door behind him Killian moves towards her cautiously, because he has come to understand that Emma Swan has a habit of leaving him behind. A thing he's sure she'd do even in his dreams.

But she doesn't. Instead of turning for the door she turns to him. Her crystal jade eyes seeking his head on. Clear and unwavering he begins to question if this really was a dream.

"Is there something wrong with your accommodations?" He meant the question to be a jest but it came out genuinely curious. After all he was the host of this vessel and she was his guest.

She shakes her head. "No. I just don't want to sleep right now."

"Don't or can't?" He asks.

Her long dark lashes cast down the tops of her cheeks as she shrugs. "Probably both."

A chuckle erupts from his throat. Emma looks at him curiously and he nods. "I know the feeling Swan." He walks past her to the glass colored cabinet besides the mantle and shelves of texts and books. His personal supply of liquor. Grabbing two glasses and the finest bottle of spiced rum he has, Killian pours her a glass and hands it out to her. She eyes him for a brief second. "It'll help." He offers before she reaches out to take it. Her thumb skimming his. He pours himself a drink, downing it quickly. "So even Heroes have trouble sleeping." Killian humours.

Emma stills significantly. Bringing the rim of the glass away from her lips and against her chest, clasped in both hands, her expression becomes hard. Killian stops his reach for another go of rum. There's a sadness in her eyes. One he has seen in his own reflection countless amount of times.

"I'm not a Hero." She states quietly.

"Is that what you believe?" He wonders aloud. Emma avoids his searching stare and doesn't answer. Killian scoffs and puts his glass atop his desk. Coming to stand in front of her he does the same with hers. Pulling it gently from her hands. Barely casting a look back to where he's set it down, he takes one of her hands in his good one.

His thumb tracing the pulse point in her wrist. It jumps at the touch.

Killian can feel how badly she wants to run then. Her beautiful eyes as wide as a doe. Troubled shades of green clashing with conflicted hues of blue. He almost wills that she stay. But then comes to realize that even in a dream he does not wish to manipulate her. Emma has always been his equal. And he will continue to think of her as that and nothing less than.

He just wants Emma to give him the chance that she'll listen to what he believes she needs to hear. Miraculously she doesn't yank her palm out of his. She waits for what it is he has to say.

There was no doubt.  _This is very much a dream._

"You we're right before. We do understand one another, and I think that even goes for seeing things in each other that we can't see in ourselves. I've never met a woman as determined, fierce, loyal, brave and as brilliant as you are. I knew it the moment you held that blade at my neck." A smirk played out on the edges of his lips. Because it was that moment in particular he knew he'd end up liking this girl. No one had ever caught him off guard in such a manner. "You sacrifice your own wants and happiness for the greater good, for the people you love so they can be happy. You convince yourself that it's enough. Don't you see Emma? That's exactly what a Hero does."

Her gaze became glossy from the unshed tears. Killian couldn't recall a time where she looked as beautiful as she did now, it set an ache in his heart.

"A real Hero wouldn't have let Tamara kill Neal. A Hero wouldn't have let them take Henry." Her voice broke on her son's name. At the fall of a tear she bent her head so he wouldn't see, trying to hide the unwanted vulnerability he ushered out of her.

Still holding her hand in his, Killian brings his hook and places it under her chin and tips it upwards slowly with the utmost care. Allowing her an exit if she wished to turn her head away without causing any harm or injury.

And since this is a dream. His dream. She does the exact opposite of what he's ready for her to do, and rather does what he wishes and hopes for instead.

Emma lets him tilt her face up to his. Her lashes and cheeks are shining wet from the lamp illuminating his cabin. In that instant he yearns for his left hand back to brush away the tears. But that's the one thing he can't seem to will in his dreams. He's had it for so long, this appendage. The loss of his hand and it's replacement follows him even in sleep.

"And a Hero rescues her son that's been taken. How else do you explain a 'rotten hearted pirate' offering his ship and services to help her endeavor. Only a Hero's influence can accomplish that."

"You did that Hook." She affirms vehemently.

"I did. For you Emma." He admits reverently.

"Why?" Her voice quaking with emotion, if not the tiniest bit of fear. And it pains him as to why that could be.

"Because you remind me of the man I want to be. A better one. One that wants to fight for something worth fighting for, at your side, you Emma Swan could very well be the reason." His head dips a bit towards hers. Her breath fanning against his face.

"The reason?" More tears roll off her bottom lashes. Without thought he releases her hand and brings his good one to cradle her cheek. Her eyes closing at the first touch.

"Why I might be able to care for more than just myself. You give me hope. You bloody well are the hope. You're the Savior for a reason Emma, not just because of the dark curse, but because it's who you truly are. I never cared much for the idea of fate, as I always chose to believe that a person makes their own but I'm starting to believe I was fated to meet you Swan. You may very well end up saving me too if you aren't already."

Emma smiled brightly through the continuance of tears that manage to escape the corners of her eyes, which he caught on the pads of his fingers and bent's of his knuckles. She inclines her head ever so slightly that their lips almost touch."Is that your way of telling me that you're glad we met?"

A full out grin splits his mouth "Absolutely."

They both meet each other in that last bit of space that separated them. It's a kiss he's never had. Soft as it is hard. Wild and passionate as it is slow and unhurried. It makes his head spin, this high he's found in her embrace. She is the sweetest and most headiest thing he's ever tasted and he's only just kissed her. Killian was positive that the rest of her would taste just as sweet, if not more so.

Emma glides her hands up his chest to rest at the place where his heart lay beneath cotton, flesh and bone. Yet he can feel it go out to her touch. He can feel her warmth.

Killian forgets that this is only a dream.

His hook slides down the length of her neck. Humming an appreciative groan when she shivers from it. The hand not pressed above his heart, going to the nape of his neck to thread her fingers through his hair. Wrapping his arm around her waist he brings her flush against him.

It's been such a long time since he's allowed himself this.  _Years._

Already he's hard for her. After just mere minutes of kisses and even fewer seconds of their bodies pressed together but she doesn't seem to mind. Her response is as enthusiastic as his assault. When they forget to breathe and break apart for air, they don't stray far. His forehead resting atop of hers.

She breathes in a sigh of relief. He cheeks are flushed, lips swollen from their kisses. He smiles at her. Thumb grazing the softness of her lip. The smile she gives him in return is watery and broken and it breaks his heart. Emma has loved and lost as much as he has.

"The last time I've -" Emma pauses. Her clouded eyes searching his before she continues. "I think I'm dreaming, it's the only way I'm able to explain how I can process all of this without wanting to push you away. And right now that's the last thing I want to do."

His hand threads through her blonde tresses in calming sweeps. That's the rub isn't it? Only in dreams can they both make such admittance's about themselves and each other, without acting on the defensive of what that could mean. It's then that Killian offers her a proposition. "If this is a dream than I suggest we make the best of it before we wake. What say you love?"

"Okay."

They dive into one another without a second thought for caution.

Lips part. Tongues meet. Exploring each other with ease and an unmistakable familiarity that feels as if they've done this a thousand times before. It vaguely registers to Killian, the declaration that voices within his thoughts.

_He was always meant to kiss this girl._

Her breath hitches when his good hand cups the back her neck while his leg comes inbetween the both of hers. Bringing Emma as close as he possibly can. If she hadn't been aware of his situation before, she definitely was now. Her eyelashes fluttering against his at the feel of him pressed against her so intimately.

Emma whimpers softly when he nudges her hips with his."H-Hook?"

"Hmmm?" The scruff of his beard rubbing against her cheek as his lips find the skin just below her ear. He smirks when he presses a kiss there and another whimper passes through her lips.

"Dream or no dream, it's been quite a while since I've done this." Despite their current position, Emma seems a tad more embarrassed at the confession. A rosy blush tinting her features.

"That makes two of us then." Killian admits cheekily.

"Really?" She doesn't seem entirely convinced. He laughs.

"Revenge it turns out, is a full time occupation. Dashing as I may be there was no woman that was able to pull my attention from it. None that I cared for." Killian's ocean blues grow soft at the look she gives him. "Till now that is."

Emma kisses him then. And he can't help the swell of joy that expands in his chest at her taking the initiative. This is the woman Emma Swan is beneath the guarded exterior. Unrelenting and confident. Her teeth grazing his lips in teasing gestures that make the hair on the back of his neck stand. Killian groans into her mouth as she undoes the buttons and buckles of his vest. Never parting his lips from hers as he disentangles from their embrace, for the leather to drop from his arms.

One handed he parts the lapels of her coat. Pushing it off her shoulders and onto the floor. Fingers skimmed a path up her stomach, stopping short when reaching her brazier. A quick nod from her and Killian yanked the material off her form. Standing before him half dressed propelled him forward towards the bed. Dragging her with him as she tried not to trip over her backward steps.

Emma landed on the bed. Her hair fanned out across the silken sheets like a halo. An angel beckoning him toward her light with nothing more than a shy glance.

He dropped to his knees at her feet that dangled just above the wooden floor. Finding the clasp of her boots and pulling them off her feet one at a time. Shifting his weight forward so that he hovers over her halfway. The look he fixes her with is hot. Killian dips his hook inside the edge of her jeans, his hand unzipping the fly. Shedding the tight denim away from her shapely legs.

The sigh Emma exhales is somewhat shaky, Killian can tell that she's not usually one to be submissive but she reaches out for him. Bringing his hand to the heated skin of her abdomen. He holds her gaze in his, admiring the tender smile that graces her lips and then gives her a devilish one. Before he bows his head between her milky thighs, pressing a series of kisses to the insides. Delighting in the surprised gasp that tumbles from her mouth. Inhaling the rich scent of her, deliberately nudging his nose against her covered folds. Kissing a path up the cloth and over her mound. Nipping the flesh at her hip.

Another gasp.

Killian was beginning to love that sound, determined to see what other noises she could make while at his mercy.

Taking her panties between his teeth, he dragged the fabric downward, inch by agonizing inch. Pleased by the eager rise of her hips, he rubs his hand as well as his hook on her thighs in approval. Letting the scrap of lace fall of her feet once he's brought it past her knees.

Exposed before his roaming gaze Killian feels his mouth begin to water. She's bare and wanton, the evidence of her arousal coating the seam of her inner lips. And he becomes greedy, needing to see all of her, he puts his hand and hook at her knees. Spreading her legs open as far as they would go.

_And she's perfect._

_Beautifully pink and so utterly wet._

His erection becomes near to painful and he's yet to touch her.

_It was time to remedy that._

At the first taste, he's addicted. And begins to feast upon her like a man starved.

Emma jerked upright from his attentions. Voicing a slew of half formed words that sounded more like praises. Running both hands through his scalp in an almost affectionate gesture, tugging on the roots of his hair when he tongues her clit. Continuing to do so as his good hand finds its way to her still covered breast. Giving it a firm squeeze, thumbing it's center through the lace, over and over again until he feels her quiver about him.

A bright flush had spread throughout Emma's entire face and body when he raises his head to look back up at her, whilst licking his lips. He's sure that the hooded gaze he looks her over with is a match to the one she's currently giving him. Twin pools of evergreen that are hazy and intense with desire. She raises a delicate brow and his lips lift with vaguest hints of arrogance. A smirk touched the corner of Emma's lips, her fingers wrapping around the silver pendant at his neck in slow circles. Yanking it and him up forward in the next instant as she crushes her lips against his in a fierce kiss.

_Gods this woman._

Emma grabbed hold of the shirt tail of his blouse to bring it up and over his head as he stood straighten. Revealing to her wandering eyes the scars that mapped his upper body and torso underneath the unruly dusting of chest hair. She traced every one with her fingertips. Ghosting her lips over them in the most gentlest of caresses, bringing forth a deep moan of pleasure from the Captain, and he felt her smile grace his skin. He grinned in turn.

_This is how it should always be._

Killian's hook and hand dance over her shoulders, lowering the straps of her bra as he leans in to kiss the curves of her shoulders and the hollows of her throat. Pausing when her touch traveled to the arm where he had the brace that held his hook in place. He gauged her reaction only to find a certain look of curiosity about it's workings as she fingered the leather straps. A small smile touches his eyes as he gives her a chaste and tender kiss.

_Brave lass._

Killian's good hand roams the quarter of a corset that separates him from the last bit of flesh he has yet to see. Without needing to see he already knows that they're lovely, but would like to see her fully naked all the same. But can find no laces to open the damn thing.

Emma purses her lips in an attempt to keep from laughing. "Are you having some trouble there Captain?"

"As pretty as this is Darling, I'd like you much better out of it and I don't think you'd care very much if I were to rip it off with my hook."

"Oh I don't know, there's a first time for everything. " She reply's jokingly. "Here. Let me." Her hand goes behind her back under his, slowly opening the clasp for his benefit. Removing herself out of the material completely, tossing it aside.

His azure eyes widened appreciatively.

"Now that is bloody convenient."

Killian wastes no time in worshiping her breasts with his mouth and 'hands' taking a hardened nipple into his hot mouth while toying with the other, the cool metal of his hook drawing patterns at the side of her right breast

His good hand returning to the center of her thighs and pressing a finger to her entrance. Teasing her there for the briefest of seconds before working it inside of her. Sucking on her nipple even harder when he finds how tight she is. Barely able to thrust his index finger out before her walls suck him back in. He'd swear she was virginal if not for her son. Which meant she really had gone without sex for quite some time.

Her shallow moans reached his ears when he added a second finger, her hands flying to the laces of his pants, brushing over the very obvious hardness in her attempts to rid his self of them. Faltering whenever he bit at her breast or found her little bundle of nerves in his thorough minstrations. Unable to help the reaction, to rock her hips against his busy hand.

"Wai-Ah! H-Hook. Pleassee ohhh. St-ttop."

Unlatching his mouth from her breast with a wet pop. He raised an eyebrow.

"Is that really what you want me to do Emma?" He asked. Tone laced deeply in ardour, as he curled his fingers within her as far as they would go. Enjoying the way her eyes became half-lidded and unfocused.

"Shut up and help me." She huffed out through clenched teeth. Tugging on the fastening of his britches. "These aren't as convenient as my clothes."

It was his turn to snicker. Turnabout was fair play after all. But he didn't tease her much on the matter and instead repeated her earlier words back at her.

"Here. Let me."

The laces came swiftly undone under his one hand. Peeling away the tight pantlegs just as easily, as he then kicked his boots off as well.

The leather had done him no justice. He released a sigh of relief as his erection sprung forth, heavy and rigid as it strained towards her. Finally he was just as naked as she. And by way of her legs hitching around his narrow waist, arms thrown around his neck and her returning ardent embrace. Killian could only figure that she too liked what she saw.

They tumbled onto the bed in a flurry of limbs and a seeking desperation. The sensation of flesh on flesh drove them both, his good hand was once more in her golden hair as she held his face in her two to keep his mouth from leaving hers.

_As if he ever could or want to do such a thing._

Chest to chest. He rubbed the underside of his member against her slippery folds in light rocking motions and she reciprocated the gesture. Moaning her pleasure into his mouth.

_Fuck how he wanted her._

_Needed her._

_Loved her._

Oh how far he had already fallen for this woman, without ever understanding the depth of the inclinations upon their meetings. But each time it became all the more clearer how kindred the fires in their hearts we're and she had stayed with him.

_The Swan girl stayed with him._

"Emma." He breathed heavily, his lips moving over hers as he spoke. Righting his weight onto his left forearm to stare down at their entwined bodies. The sight just about pushing him to take action.

Before Killian could even get that far once again she threw him for a loop. Crossing her ankles around his back and shifting her weight quicker than he could blink. Leaving Emma sitting astride him. Her triumphant grin was infectious. Despite the pained and pleasurable way he was wedged between them, he beamed right back at her.

"I'm not the delicate type Killian." She announced smugly. Rubbing herself over him with a swivel of her hips.

'Yes. It's one of the many admirable qualities that I like about you Love." He pants out harshly. Yet he's grinning all the same.

_Emma said his name. Not his moniker._

Lifting up her hips Emma takes hold of his cock to align it up with her entrance. And very slowly sinks herself onto him. The resistance that begins to surround his throbbing length is as close to unreal as it gets. Never before has he experienced this sort of excruciating bliss with any other woman and he's not even all the way in yet.

Emma's mouth is hung open in a silent cry. Her scrunched expression is a mixture of pain as well as pleasure. She isn't used to his girth but continues to engulf his erection steadily until they're practically attached at the hip.

Killian decides then that this is the sweetest bout of torture he's ever had to endure. And it's worth it. Every bleeding second is worth it. To be here with her. Joined together in the most intimate of ways.

Hook and hand find purchase on her hips when she starts to move. Urging her on with the guidance of both palm and steel. Her voice seems to have left her entirely, her mouth speaking words but none making any sound. Upon closer inspection Killian is able to decifer the silent code.

'Oh God.'

And he can't help but nod in agreement. There was nothing more divine than this act, of her above him looking like his personal goddess of salvation. Her movements are becoming more forceful with every downward trust of her hips. And he can feel the walls that are tightening around his prick beginning to flutter. She was going to come again. And soon.

Killian rises up to meet her. Nipping the flesh and shell of her ear and thrusting his hips upwards as she's reaching down, that ends up producing a wonderful shriek of compliance. One that sounds off again and again as he continues to drive into her as soon as she encloses back over him.

Emma Swan in the throes of passion may very well be music to his ears.

His hook presses at the slope of her spine and his hand gropes the curve of her backside, urging her on a faster pace. He wants to watch her come undone this time. To see the look in her eyes, with his name imprinted across her lips. He isn't disappointed.

"K-Killian!" She sobs. Nails embedded in his biceps.

"That's it My Love. Let go for me." He whispers roughly.

Emma clutches at him like a lifeline. As if she's about to drown. Perhaps she is. Concealing her face in his neck with a muffled shout as intense rolling waves of ecstasy course throughout her body and even in the aftershocks, Emma continues to tremble in his arms.

It took Killian every ounce of self control not to follow her over that edge. His jaw ticking in restraint. He wasn't ready for it all to be over yet. Wanting to hold onto this envisioned piece of paradise for as long as he possibly could.

He gave her a moment to catch her breath before he dipped his head to hers and caught her lips in a biting kiss. His cock twitching impatiently when she squirmed deliciously on his lap.

"Lie back." Killian said hoarsely.

Emma bit her bottom lip and did as she was told. Her eyes never leaving the disconnect would be only momentary both of them winced from the loss of their connection. But she was a sight to behold. Lying there beneath his hungry stare. A shear cover of perspiration starting to appear along the defined lines and curves of her lithe body. There were red marks and imprints of his teeth littering her heaving front.

_He'd never seen anything more lovely._

Kneeling between her open legs, he guides her to position them over his shoulders. Not once does he break eye contact when he surges back into her slick welcoming heat. The two of them groaning in unison when the rush of consuming pleasure returns. His thrusts are paced and forceful. Her breasts bouncing with every smack of flesh that permeates the air of the cabin. Emma fists the sheets at her sides, her head thrashing every which way.

"Oh Fuck." She gasps wantonly.

Killian grins from ear to ear. "Yes, I do believe that's the idea."

She rolls her eyes in what was meant to be sarcastic but Killian changes the angle of his thrusts, hitting her deeper, and Emma rolls her entire head back. Murmuring something along the lines of 'cocky bastard.'

_Yes. He supposes that he may very well be that, but it's something she seems to be enjoyi-_

All thought leaves him when she meets his thrusts head on with her own. Rising to pull him back in when he pulled out. The blissful shock of her walls internally tightening around him at will-sucking him back in - it nearly makes him go cross-eyed. A smirk of satisfaction oh her face when looking up at his.

"Where in the sodding hell did you learn to do that?" Trying best not to let slip the ounce of jealousy he feels by the thought of her with another man. He fails of course.

But she shrugs, "What can I say, I'm gifted." her smirk turning into the softest of smiles. A smile that is just for him.

It pushes Killian over the edge.

Swiftly he changes their position. Falling between the cradle of her legs, much like how they we're before they began, when she caught him off guard. Emma lay pinned beneath his pistoning hips . The measured thrusts becoming quick and ruthless, it was all she could do to keep up. He swallowed her cries, stubble scratching her chin in the pursuit of his tongue to dance with hers, a motion that matched their seeking bodies.

Her movements became frantic under his brutal advances, her walls tightening. Breaking from the kiss she turned her head to the side, away from him.

"Don't." Killian pleads almost desperately. "Emma, don't hide from me." His good hand traveling between them to find her bundle of nerves. Strumming it in time with his arduous strokes. "I want you to look at me when it happens. I need to see you when you come."

There's a hesitancy in her wide eyes. A vulnerability amidst the overwhelming crash of emotion and the building immeasurable pleasure that threatened to consume her entirely. When it sweeps her away to the farthest reaches of an inner nirvana, Emma keeps her eyes open, keeps her eyes on him. Only on him. All that she is coming undone before his very eyes.

_Beautiful._

_Rapturous._

_Glorious._

_"KILLI-AN"_

It's her voice that does it. That brakes him in the most euphoric of ways. White and blindingly hot. His release pulses inside of her, racking the entire frame of his body and mind, going completely rigid before proceeding to collapse on her still trembling form.

Minutes pass in easy silence, and when he remembers his weight ontop of hers Killian makes the move to get off, but stops when she holds him to her. Emma blushes scarlet when he peers down at her in question. "I can take the weight." She whispers lowly, and then shifts her focus to nothing in particular to the right.

It's almost ridiculous, how happy those five little words make him.

Cupping her jaw he turns her head so she will look at him. "Emma." Her gaze flickers back up to his warily. "I never doubted that for a moment." Killian confesses softhearted. Nudging the tip of her nose with his. It was clear that he was no longer speaking of what had currently transpired, but the full extent of their relationship. Since their first meeting he understood that she was the epitome of strength in it's full and entire embodiment.

Emma could carry his weight and if she let him...Killian would carry hers.

The smile he can barely contain becomes a mutual one that they share. Her hand comes up to touch his hair in the lightest of ways, exchanging a kiss that means more than just simple attraction, respect and adoration. It's written across her face plain as day when the both of them retract, and it's the most at peace he's ever seen her. They stay locked in each others arms for who knows how long. Content to just hold one another.

But all too soon his eyes grow heavy with exhaustion. His limbs settling in a gripping comfort around hers, that he can't seem to manage out of. Killian wants more than anything to stay but the edges of his sight begin to dim. The world of his cabin fading into black. The last thing he sees before he falls prey to the incoming darkness is Emma's sleeping face.

* * *

Killian awakened to the familiar creaking of the ocean water breaking against 'The Jolly Roger' He was sitting against the headboard of his grand bed, with a bottle of absinthe, alone and fully clothed.

_Only a dream._

Killian knew that of course. But it still didn't stop the disappointed ache that settled heavily in his chest. Already he was starting to forget it's beginnings. Yet he wouldn't forget how _believably real it had all felt._ And apparently his body was in those same agreements. As he moved to stand he visibly cringed. Looking down he noted that he was in need of a change of pants, and felt the undeniable urge to laugh at himself. He couldn't remember a time, even in his youth, where an erotic dream got the best of him. He should have known as much, even in his dreams Emma Swan made him the weaker man.

Glancing at the bottle in his hand Killian sighed longingly. "No more absinthe before bedtime."

After a change of wear he tries his best to rid his thoughts of her. But he can't knowing that she's only a stone's throw away in the shared cabin below. Coming to the conclusion that it's fresh air he's in need of, he quits his constant pacing and goes above deck.

Seeking out the comfort of familiar constellations and instead is greeted by a much brighter image. Out of his dreams and up on deck Emma stands before him some ways away, her back against the mast, gazing out to the stretch of land that lies ahead. Her hair is a mixture of the sun's rays and starlight under the pale illumination of the moon hanging overhead. And she's alone. He's not all sure if he should approach her, but his feet are moving across the wooden planks before he can think better of it.

"Can't sleep? " He prompts. Gifting her a small smile when she shifts those all seeing eyes on him.

"Something like that." She regards him carefully, almost questioningly before returning her attention back out at sea. Though every so often he's sure he sees her peek at him from underneath her doll like lashes. In doing the same he becomes aware of the palpable tension standing between them. Or perhaps it's just him. He figures as his vision is slammed with an onslaught of images of her beneath him, over him, the soft yet firm press of her lips on his, the hitch of her voice echoing in her ears.

_Damn her._

"I feel guilty sleeping, not knowing." Emma admitted. Her voice seemingly tiny in the nights silence. The heaviness of the reality of their situation drawing Killian away from the dream that insisted on plaguing him.

"You know you'll find him right? Your boy?" He offers solemnly.

"Yeah. I just..."

"Can't help but worry for his safety." He supplies. "Any good mother would do the same."

Her words tumble out rushed and shameful. "I've let Henry down so much lately. I go over and over it in my head, all the things I could have done, all the things I should have said. Kicking myself for not being the 'Hero' that Henry believes me to be."

"Smart lad."

Emma whips her head in his direction. "What?"

"To a child, parents are the Heroes they tend to model themselves after. But in your case the term is in fact literal. You as well as your parents are the 'Heroes' here. Make no mistake about that Swan."

Emma openly gawks at him. Unabashed with traces of disbelief clouding her jeweled eyes. Despite the cover of evening Killian can almost swear that her cheeks begin to tinge bright pink. Before he can comment Emma twists away, expression downcast and hidden behind a curtain of silver hair.

"Thank you." She utters so low, it barely extends to his hearing.

Later on he'll relate it to the influence he indulged in before waking, but right now he feels the inexplicable need to touch her. To reassure her of her person. To assure himself that he is in fact awake and that this is not a dream of any kind. Killian brings his hand to her wave of hair. Reveling in it's softness before tucking it behind her ear.

"We will find him Emma."

_We._

Here beside her there is a hope that he can't let go of now that he's given in to the knowledge of it's existence. It's the same hope he finds to be reflected. The hope for love.


End file.
